The moon, that had become again obscured, once more burst through the black clouds, lighting up the fronds of the feathery palms that flung their shadows far over the pellucid waves.
The concert of the nocturnal forest, for a time stayed by the report of the rifle, burst out anew as the boat glided silently out of sight.
Chapter Two.
The Settlement.
The site of the settlement to which the canoe was being directed merits description.
It was upon the northern shore of Tampa Bay.
The soil that had been cleared was rich in crops of cotton, indigo, sugar, with oranges, and the ordinary staples of food.
Through the cultivated lands, mapped out like a painter’s palette, ran a crystal stream, from which the rice fields were watered by intersecting rivulets, looking like silver threads in a tissue.